ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

I've been lurking here for a while and I have been watching how the Zero models and years play out from a cost and performance standpoint. I am a long time motorcyclist but I currently am riding a hopped up commercially available ebike, the Ultramotor A2B Metro. I bought it used in March of this year in a nonfunctional state and rebuilt it with double the voltage and roughly double the top speed, about 38 mph. I get to work and back on it and sometimes go on joy rides downtown since it is so cool. It is just fast enough to move with traffic but I want something faster with a more capable suspension. A Zero XU would be fine for my needs but eight or nine grand is a lot to pay over the two grand I have in the Metro. I have the money but the rate of advancement is so high year-to-year on the Zeros that I don't want to buy one and have it be totally valueless one year later when it's successor can do 50% more. I'd like to have about $5k in a very high performing mid-drive production ebike that could go 40mph but would have a great suspension so I don't wince every time bad pavement comes up. Stealth ebikes are too expensive if you consider that Zero makes a MC that does as much for less. I just don't like the weight of the Zero. I'd like to have a very sophisticated 100 pound M/C or ebike without a hubmotor. The weight on the hubmotor equipped back wheel of my Metro is less than ideal for handling. It has been very reliable though. I don't want anything that I HAVE to work on. If I WANT to work on it that's fine. I can do that when I want. But whatever it is it has to be reliable. I haven't been too impressed with the bigger Zeros from what I have read here. Seems to be too many problems even if you consider that those with trouble free examples never post here. I've worked on stuff since I was a kid and I am kinda over it. I want reliability if I am paying the big bucks.

If someone can make a great 100 pound, 40 mph bicycle or MC that looks like a bicycle and uses bicycle componentry I'd be all over that if it was no more than 5 grand.

Hi Jim.  I have been riding BMW boxers for years, starting with a 1985 R80.  In addition to other motorcycles, I also currently own an R1200R and an F650GS.  Unfortunately, I have not been riding them as much as I used to do.  Instead, I have been riding my 2012 Zero S all around the area getting my chores done, not buying gas and not driving my car at all. It is a lot easier to just turn the key and ride off for a short ride to the store, a doctor appointment, to visit friends and relatives, etc., without needing to warm up the bike and worrying if the ride will be long enough to recharge the battery and if the oil will get hot enough to keep acids from forming.  If I was still working I would be riding the Zero every day to work and back. 

Hey Richard,

  I, too, am having a hard time cold starting my ICE car to run around. I even have a Nissan Leaf that I'll leave in the garage if the electric bike is sufficient to run a certain errand. My drive to work is a 2.3 mile ride but it's too hot right now in San Antonio to ride my regular bicycle so I ride the electric bike instead. I've gotten to where I hate to drive a car to work. Riding is so much nicer. BUT, drivers aren't too bike friendly here so I'm researching the electric motorcycle. I can be riding slightly above the speed limit on my bicycle and still have people want to get around me since I'm on just a bicycle. I always found that I got more respect on a M/C when wearing a white helmet since I guess car drivers thought I might be a cop.

Either which way, electric transportation is where it's at.  -Jim

Harlan,

  I was specifically looking for fork seal leaks, glitching or any of the things that seem to be happening more commonly on the S and DS. This is basically a new powertrain and it takes a while for issues to pop up if they are gonna pop up.

Thanks,
Jim

I currently ride an A2B Metro electric bicycle which is pretty much an electric scooter. I charge it solely on solar power to make my 9.2 mile daily commute. My range is about 16 miles being conservative with my lipo batteries.  I charge at home with a deep cycle 12V sealed lead acid battery. The 12V battery is charged from a MPPT charge controller from Morningstar and a 135W Kyocera solar panel perched on the roof of my garage. I charge the bike's batteries with an iCharger 3010B R/C charger that pulls from the deep cycle battery. My bike runs at 72volts so I have two 36V packs run in series after they are charged from the iCharger.

Here is an overall picture:



Here is a look at the bike at the charging station. I have a Morningstar Sunsaver MPPT charge controller mounted on an aluminum plate on the left. This gets power from the solar panel. It is super efficient and I've seen up to 121W worth of charging from my 135W panel. In the middle on the ground is the iCharger 3010B which feeds both of my 10S battery packs in parallel. I try to charge in the daytime when the solar resource is greatest and the charge controller can pump out the juice. Finally, I have one big 100Ah Sears Diehard deep cycle battery with two smaller UPS batteries in parallel to store the solar power.



The solar panel stores electricity from about 8 hours of good sun. I don't think that portability is possible even for the 32wh/mile riding that I do. I think a fixed charging station and a decent on board battery storage is the only way you can ride on solar, especially at the motorcycle level. I am interested in the Zero XU to replace the A2B Metro and solar will be how I charge. My solar charging station will certainly need to be upgraded to 24V with a bigger 240W panel(s) for sure!

Th setup I have cost about $1000 after shipping. I am as much into solar as I am into the bike.